Kamala Harris Rules Out Using Military Force Against Venezuela's Maduro if Elected President

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been ramping up her media blitz as the elections loom large, focusing much of her efforts in the Latino electorate, which has proven to be a difficult-to-conquer demographic for her ahead of the presidential elections.

Her latest stop on Tuesday was Telemundo, where the vice president sat down for an interview with journalist Julio Vaqueiro and went through a wide-encompassing interview that touched on everything from her ideological tendencies to her economic policies if elected.

At one point in the interview, Vaqueiro questioned Harris about how her potential administration would deal with Venezuela, a nation that remains in crisis after Nicolás Maduro declared himself the winner of the latest presidential elections on July 28 without showing supporting documentation, something that has led to harsh condemnation from a large part of the international community, including the United States.

"We're not going to use the U.S. military there. But let me be very clear, the U.S. must remain firm in respect to the will of the people in that election and I have been very clear about this, about the elections that took place in Venezuela. The will of the people must be respected and that's why we have supported sanctions"

Actions by the Biden administration against the Maduro regime since the elections took place include targeted sanctions by the Department of the Treasury against 16 Maduro-affiliated individuals, including leaders of the National Electoral Council, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and the Maduro-affiliated national assembly and confiscating Maduro's $13 million plane in the Dominican Republic.

However, Republican politicians have called for further, more impactful actions against Maduro. In September, Florida Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio announced the introduction of a bill that aims to increase the U.S. government's reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro from the current $15 million set back in 2020 to $100 million.

"It's clear Maduro will not step down on his own, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill to rid Venezuela and the world of Maduro's oppression and make way for President-elect González to bring democracy, freedom and opportunity back to Venezuela" said Scott in a statement back then.

As for Harris' previous position on the issue, she wrote a public letter to both González Urrutia and opposition leader María Corina Machado back in August, reaffirming her commitment to supporting a peaceful, respectful transfer of power and asserting that a militarized response would "only deepen the crisis."

"I strongly urge the security forces in Venezuela to demonstrate restraint, respect the human rights and freedom of expression of all Venezuelans, and protect the Venezuelan people from political threats and attacks," Harris wrote in the letter.